The Master of Misdirection
by Cora Clavia
Summary: And that's when Beckett remembers something her grandfather told her:  The fun's not in knowing.  It's in the waiting to know.  Caskett.
1. When Smoke Clears

**The Master of Misdirection**

**Summary:** Episode tag/ending piece for "Poof, You're Dead" – And that's when Beckett remembers something her grandfather told her: _The fun's not in knowing. It's in the waiting to know._  
**Rating:** K+  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Castle_. Would you quit rubbing it in already?

* * *

Bright child that she was, little Katie had enjoyed the coins coming from her ear, but quickly wanted to not just _see_ the tricks, but _do_ them. To his credit, her grandfather had showed her almost everything. Her parents laughed through her fumbling attempts to produce nickels from behind their ears with little six-year-old fingers. She dropped them more often than not. But her grandfather encouraged her with endless praise (and endless supplies of nickels).

As she got older, then, Kate started asking different questions. She understood the mechanics of the tricks. Why, she wondered, did he bother with all the swooping hand motions? They served no purpose. They just took up time; after all, it was the illusion that took the ingenuity. Why the window dressing?

Grandfather had taken a shrewd look at tall, skinny twelve-year-old Kate (not Katie; that was _such_ a little kid's name), her folded arms and frown of concentration, and smiled. _Kate, no one wants to see the trick without the beauty. The fun's not in the knowing. It's in the waiting to know._

_But you already told us what's going to happen._

He laughed. _Yes, I did. But while you're waiting, for just a second there, you're not sure if you believe me. You feel a little afraid. And what's remarkable, Kate, is that you're not sure if you're afraid it might not happen – or you're afraid what will happen when it does. If you don't have to wait for it, you'll never realize it's magic at all._

_

* * *

_

"No. No. What I'm saying is – it's over."

Kate froze, her eyes widening, and without thinking, she backtracked, leaving quietly before he noticed her presence in what was obviously meant to be a personal moment.

Castle. Gina. Finished.

Kate chose to ignore the sudden rush of – something – that bubbled up in spite of herself. She had never been a fan of Gina. The woman was good at her job, but there was a veneer of self-absorption about her. She seemed to merely put up with Castle, the way Kate pretended to. Gina was too aware of her own perfection. Castle had always seemed like more of an accessory to her.

But the way he'd said it – gentle, but final. He seemed so sure. So calm.

He appeared as she was ready to leave, his usual chipper self, bugging her about Josh (she _hated_ that nickname, which was probably why Castle persisted in using it). At the last second, instead of a quiet dinner alone (her original plan), Kate found herself inviting him to join her.

Why? She'd been looking forward to the peace and solitude. And Castle didn't really seem like he needed food therapy. But for some reason, the words came out. He brightened immediately, and once again, Kate found herself headed to the elevator with the man whom the entire janitorial staff had dubbed her personal cocker spaniel.

Castle wasn't often so open. His appreciation for her respecting his personal life was touching. After living his whole life in the society pages, Kate realized, he was still too guarded to be comfortable airing his unhappiness in public. Rick Castle was many things; impulsive in his family life was not one of them. He and Gina must have been on the rocks for longer than anyone had realized. And he'd managed to keep everyone out of the loop till almost the vey end.

So this was the opportune moment, she decided, to deploy the trick her grandfather had saved for birthdays, last days of school, and dance recitals: the classic bouquet up the sleeve. Silly, but effective. Castle's face broke into a smile, a real smile, and she knew he really was okay. He didn't regret it. He had moved on.

After all, Kate had always expected Castle and Gina to break up. But it had taken so long that she'd begun to wonder if it really would happen.

_And what's remarkable, Kate, is that you're not sure if you're afraid it might not happen – or you're afraid what will happen when it does. If you don't have to wait for it, you'll never realize it's magic at all._

_

* * *

_

**Author's Note:** GAH. Could not _handle_ the love that was "Poof, You're Dead." The X-ray glasses? Esposito saying _oye chica_? Castle with that box thing on his head? Castle breaking up with Gina? Uhhhh. Yum. And don't even get me started on the depth of the significance of _misdirection_; Demming, Gina, and even Josh are examples sent to make us look the other way, as is the (adorable) pairing of Lanie/Esposito as the 'relief valve' (_á la _Angela/Hodgins in _Bones_). That was just a raspberry-jam kiss on the cheek from the writers. And then, because ABC wants to KIL ME DED with love, that was followed by the Promo of Yum, in which we almost saw Teaserization Of The Kissage (Coming Soon).

This was going to be just a oneshot, but I don't know, I was thinking of continuing, at least to include dinner. Yes? No?


	2. I Start To See Too Much

Dear Kaz: A.) thank you for the review. B.) I KNOW! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH BONES THIS SEASON? I'm so frustrated at B and B. UGH.

Anyway.

**Chapter 2**

After procuring more calories than were healthy for any less than four people, Castle figured their dinner needed good wine to class it up, so they ended up back at Chez Castle. They feasted on macaroni and cheese, chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and he was in remarkably good spirits; at one point he made her laugh so hard that Alexis, who'd been studying with headphones on, came downstairs to see what was going on.

An hour, a bowl of macaroni, and several uncontrollable laughing fits later, Alexis headed back up (it was late and a schoolnight), requesting that they please try to keep it down, since _some_ people had to sleep well enough to remember L'Hopital's Rule in the morning, thank you very much Dad.

With Alexis gone to bed, Castle refilled their wine glasses and they relocated from the kitchen to the couch. He settled at the other end, watching Beckett slowly trace the rim of her glass with one finger. Glancing up, she noticed him watching her. "What?" she smiled a little self-consciously.

"Nothing." He took a sip of wine, lingering over his glass. It had suddenly struck him, watching her, how well she fit here. Not just the couch, but his home. His world. She could charm his mother, tease him, and send his studious, careful daughter into hysterical giggles. Gina was a people person – it was her job, after all – but oddly enough, Beckett, with no experience in PR, no studies in communications, no lavish gifts and no standing pedicure appointments, who had, without really trying, become a permanent fixture of the Castlehaus.

It occurred to him, watching her sip wine pensively, that maybe she belonged here more than…someone else…ever had. _Too much wine, Rick. Now it's getting dangerous_.

By the time Beckett was starting to look tired, Castle had come to the conclusion that this wasn't about comfort, the way Beckett had probably intended it. He didn't regret breaking up with Gina. Gina was a good person, and he liked her, but she was most easily appreciated from afar. Like an illusion. The closer you got, the more you understood it from the inside out, the less dazzling it became. He was enjoying himself right now. And oddly, he felt a deep sense of calm.

Gina had handled it gracefully, too. She was an adult, had protested some but in the end, gently agreed and wished him well. No bitterness. He was thankful for it.

* * *

Castle offered Beckett his spare bedroom for the night, but she gracefully declined. So he held her coat up for her to slide her arms into.

"Such a gentleman, Castle. Color me impressed."

"I have my moments."

She turned back to face him, tying her belt, a smile playing around her lips. Maybe it was the wine, or maybe it was just his imagination, but she had seemed unsually playful this evening. Beckett was always fun, but tonight she had been lively. Winsome. Even a little flirtatious –

_It's nothing_, he decided. He would give her a peck on the cheek goodnight, she would go, and he would snap out of whatever haze of – something – he'd been in since he'd told Gina _it's over_ and suddenly started to notice things he shouldn't notice. It would pass. A kiss on the cheek was nothing. Like the first time he'd done it, when the light touch had been just enough to misdirect her long enough for him to get out the door with the pilfered photos.

If anything, he expected an eye roll. Or even a light slap. Almost hoped for it. It would confirm his suspicion that the atmosphere hovering around this evening had been an illusion itself, that he was reading too much into everything, that he was alone in feeling something he steadfastly refused to put words to.

But she didn't even try to stop him. And his lips grazed the corner of her mouth, and his hand on her back was too much like a caress, and even had those been accidents, he lingered there far too long for it to have been innocent. And though she'd had wine, it wasn't nearly enough to explain the way her eyes fell shut, or the soft sigh that escaped her lips. And his body's instinctive reaction to all of it was far from chaste.

Her skin was impossibly soft, and her breath on his skin caught him off-guard. He let her go gently, drawing in a sharp breath as he looked down at her big soft eyes and parted lips, and suddenly he had to take a step back because…because he was single now, but she wasn't, and after all, they'd both had just enough wine to facilitate the possibility of doing something really, really stupid.

"Goodnight, Castle."

"See you in the morning."

She left with a smile, the door closed behind her, and Castle suddenly remembered, in a moment of fleeting, arbitrary clarity, that Gina had never liked macaroni.

**LA FIN**

* * *

**Author's Note:** Wanted this to be leaning towards romance but still technically canon, since I'm so looking forward to "Knockdown" next week.

"Hypothetical five...

...

...

...

NICE!"


End file.
